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Consumer Price Index Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI CPI Page4of4 taxes directly associated with the purchase and use of items are included in the index. Prices of food, fi~els, and a few other items are obtained every month in all 8~ locations. Prices of most other commodities and services are collected every month in the three largest geographic areas and every other month in other areas. Prices of most goods and services are obtained by personal visits of the Bureau's trained representatives. In calculating the index, price changes for the various items in each location are averaged together with weights that represent their importance in the spending of the appropriate population group. Local data are then combined to obtain a U.S. city average. Separate indexes are also published by size of city, by region of the country, for cross- classifications of regions and population-size classes, and for 27 local areas. Area indexes do not measure differences in the level of prices among cities; they only measure the average change in prices for each area since the base period. The index measures price changes from a designated reference date (1982-84) that equals ioo.o. An increase of i6.5 percent, for example, is shown as ii6.5. This change can also be expressed in dollars as follows: the price of a base period "market basket" of goods and services in the CPI has risen from $io in 1982-84 to $11.65. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter iy, The Consumer Price Index, available on the Internet at www.bls.gov/~.pub/hom/homchiy a.htm. Last Modified Date: August 1'J, 2009 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Midwest Information Office Room 960, 230 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL 60604 ~ttp://www.bls.gov/R05/ ~ Telephone: (312) 353-1880 ~ Fax: (312) 353-1886 Do you have a Midwest Region ' (R0~ data ouestion? http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/print.pl/ro5/cpimpls.htm 10/7/2009